Tajikistan
The city’s top sight is the citadel, the reconstructed corner of which is open to visitors. From the top of the 10th-century ramparts, the disintegrating…
Must-see attractions in Tajikistan
Tajikistan
The core of this great bazaar, reputedly the largest in Central Asia, is an unusually elegant, purpose-built hall (1964) with arched entrance portals and…
Dushanbe
Extensive Rudaki Park, with its beautiful canopy of mature trees, offers a series of pathways through flower gardens and alongside lakes and fountains…
Dushanbe
One of Dushanbe’s most impressive modern monuments, this statue celebrates the 10th-century founder of the Samanid dynasty. With an art-deco quality to…
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Dushanbe
Sharing the same complex as the National Museum of Antiquities, this small museum houses an exquisite collection of traditional Tajikistan clothing …
Historical Museum of Sughd Province
Tajikistan
Built within the reconstructed southeastern bastion of the city wall, this museum houses a fascinating set of modern marble mosaics depicting the life of…
Dushanbe
Pictured on the 20TJS banknote and just 30km west of Dushanbe, the remains of this 18th-century fort make for an interesting day trip from the capital…
Tajikistan
Shaded by ancient chinar (plane) trees, a pair of small but ornately stucco-fronted 17th-century tombs are set beside a fine old mosque with tapering…
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Tajikistan
On a terrace above the banks of River Zerafshan, 1.5km southeast of today's Penjikent, the ruins of a major Sogdian town slowly bake to dust. Looking…
Dushanbe
Beneath an impressive arc of blue mosaic stars, the nation's most revered poet, Rudaki, is honoured here at the heart of the central park named after him…
Tajikistan
This 12th-century fort is the most impressive of the Wakhan Valley's many tumbledown castle ruins, complete with multiple walls and round watchtowers. The…
Tajikistan
In the northwest of the country, 30km east of Penjikent, the Fannsky Gory or Fan Mountains are a beautiful range of sharp-peaked mountains, many snow…
Tajikistan
Measuring around 4km in length, this stunning lake (2195m), high in the Fan Mountains, is a spectacle not to be missed. Willows, feathery tamarisk and…
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Tajikistan
Rock faces on the steep slopes above Langar are inscribed with over 6000 ancient petroglyphs. Climbing to see them is hard work in the high altitude and…
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Tajikistan
This important shrine complex marks the spot where the remains of the great Persian poet Rudaki (858–941) were found in 1958. The modern complex, built in…
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Dushanbe
Tajikistan's national museum is housed in an impressive modern building with an elliptical roof and giant atrium. The collection encompasses three main…
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National Museum of Antiquities of Tajikistan
Dushanbe
Looking almost as aged as some of the exhibits it houses, this dusty old museum, with its threadbare carpets and uneven floors, has a certain charm about…
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Tajikistan
By some accounts, Mazor-i Sharif (meaning 'noble shrine') marks the ancient last resting place of an 8th-century missionary from Basra, Mohammad Bashoro…
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Tajikistan
Some 500m off the main road in Yamg (Ямг) is the reconstructed house museum of Sufi mystic, astronomer and musician Mubarak Kadam Wakhani (1843–1903). One…
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Dushanbe
Nurek Reservoir is 70km long and the world's second highest dam. Its remarkable opal-blue water, set within a pastoral landscape and edged with mountains,…
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Tajikistan
Close to Yamchun, on an obvious salt-bleached patch of mountainside directly behind the hamlet of Vrang (Вранг), is a five-level stone monument claimed to…
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Dushanbe
Hidden within a private family compound behind unmarked green gates is a precious collection of antique musical instruments originating from across…
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Tajikistan
In the northeast of the city, rising above low-level housing, this grassy, flat-topped hill once boasted a fine citadel. Stormed by Alexander the Great in…
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Tajikistan
This religious complex comprises the 1394 brick mausoleum of Sheikh Massal ad-Din (1133–1223), covered porticoes with carved wooden pillars, a 20th…
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Dushanbe
Built to commemorate 20 years of independence, the world's second tallest flagpole stands at 165m and is the centrepiece of Dushanbe's central ensemble of…
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Dushanbe
This vast festival of modern architecture, based on traditional architectural design and encompassing some exquisite national motifs, is used for the…
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Tajikistan
The old town is an intriguing maze of mudbrick lanes with water channels running along the centre of the thoroughfare. Houses are tantalisingly hidden…
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Dushanbe
Crowning the fountain-filled thoroughfare outside the National Library, this national monument was built to commemorate Tajikistan's independence. Cast…
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Dushanbe
With the best views over the city, this hilltop park makes a tranquil spot in which to enjoy a shaded stroll. The park encompasses a well-kept WWII…
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Tajikistan
Beside the main road in Namadgut village, this crumbling ruin commands a view of the Pyanj from two riverside knolls. The oldest sections date to the 3rd…
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Dushanbe
The extensive Botanical Gardens, with its Persepolis-inspired gateway, is home to a fine collection of mature deciduous trees (labelled in Latin) and…
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Dushanbe
This attractive Soviet-style building with a courtyard of fountains is closed to visitors but makes a useful reference point for navigating in the centre…
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Tajikistan
By the bridge, across the main road from the village jamoat khana (prayer house; easily recognisable by its colourful murals decorating the window frames)…
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Tajikistan
This elegant single-storey museum, with its white Doric columns and fine floral display, assigns a room to its namesake, Abu Abdullah Rudaki (858–941),…
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Tajikistan
Around 10km from Langar, on a promontory fortified for at least 2300 years, these minimal castle ruins are signposted off the main Wakhan road. A path of…
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Dushanbe
The Shah Mansur Bazaar, known in English as the 'Green Bazaar', is the heartbeat of Dushanbe trade and a great place to gain a sense of local life in the…
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Tajikistan
On cold Friday lunchtimes, dozens of older men with flowing white beards, turbans, upturned boots and swishing purple/green iridescent joma robes make…
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Tajikistan
A 22m-tall statue of Lenin was moved here from Moscow in 1974 when Khojand was called Leninabad. In 2011 Vlad was quietly removed from his central plinth…
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Tajikistan
At Zong, 5km west of Langar, this fortress was built to guard a branch of the Silk Road from Chinese and Afghan invaders. The fortress ruins, while not…
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Tajikistan
Making a striking contrast to the more usual choice of public monuments celebrating Somoni, Rudaki or Lenin, this sculpture in the centre of the…
